Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. decreased its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 12.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,513,785 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,516,735 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $420,446,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VZ. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,694,230 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,346,682,000 after purchasing an additional 7,421,148 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 95,824,245 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,289,054,000 after purchasing an additional 2,081,241 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 29,074,297 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,305,727,000 after purchasing an additional 565,842 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $1,083,337,000. Finally, Amundi grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 32.3% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 25,227,069 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $983,445,000 after purchasing an additional 6,153,408 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE VZ opened at $44.06 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $41.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.01. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.59 and a 52-week high of $47.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $185.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.64, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.15%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on VZ shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Tigress Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. Finally, Argus raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.11.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at $1,851,664.50. This represents a 30.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895 over the last ninety days. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of communications, technology, information, and entertainment products and services to consumers, businesses, and governmental entities worldwide. It operates in two segments, Verizon Consumer Group (Consumer) and Verizon Business Group (Business).